11 p.m. Friday (Walmart Supercenter): Cherish’s mother reports the 8-year-old girl missing to police. Authorities say the mother and Donald James Smith went to Walmart after Smith offered to buy the family some clothes.

9 a.m. Saturday (I-95/I-10): Police pull over and surround Donald James Smith’s white 1998 Dodge van on I-95 South near the I-10 split.

10 a.m. Saturday (Highlands Baptist Church): The body of 8-year-old Cherish Perrywinkle is found near the church.

Source: Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office

TALLAHASSEE | The Senate Tuesday filed sweeping reforms designed to strengthen Florida’s sexual predator laws as more of those predators continue to slip “through the cracks.”

The reforms, which are carried in four separate pieces of legislation, make it easier to keep a sexual predator detained, toughens sentencing laws for those convicted of committing certain sexual offenses on a minor, and increases what convicted sexual offenders must register with the state.

“Protecting the most vulnerable among us is one of the most basic functions of government,” Sen. Don Gaetz said in a news release. “Together these bills will make Florida scorched earth for those who seek to harm our children.”

The swift reform of state sexual predator laws comes on the heels of the Jacksonville killing of 8-year-old Cherish Perrywinkle. The state had the opportunity to indefinitely detain Donald Smith, who is charged in Perrywinkle’s death, three separate times under the Sexually Violent Predators Act, but failed to do so.

In addition, the South Florida Sun-Sentinel found that predators released from the program went on to molest more than 460 children, rape 120 women and kill 14.

“When confronted with clear evidence that current laws and administrative systems are not working well enough...[Senate leaders] are proposing swift and comprehensive action,” Gaetz said.

One bill, sponsored by state Sen. Denise Grimsley, R-Sebring, would require a sheriff to refer an offender in a county facility for so-called “civil commitment” proceedings if they are a registered sex offender, or have previously committed a sexually violent offense.

Under the civil commitment process, state agencies refer some sexual predators to the Department of Children and Family’s Sexually Violent Predator Program. They are then reviewed by a series of specialists, and the DCF ultimately sends a recommendation to the state attorney whether or not the offender should be “involuntarily committed.”

Those committed are sent to the 720-bed Florida Civil Commitment Center located in Arcadia. Officials can take steps to keep an offender detained indefinitely, a step that was never taken for Smith.

Grimsley’s bill, SB 522, also allows state attorneys to file petitions keeping someone who committed a sexually violent offense behind bars longer if a judge releases them before civil commitment proceedings begin. An explanation of the bill says this can happen if a judge orders immediate release at a resentencing hearing.

Another bill, SB 526, filed by Fleming Island Republican Rob Bradley, will no longer allow offenders who committed certain sex crimes against minors the ability to earn reduced sentences for good behavior.

“If they committed certain adult-on-minor crimes they will serve their sentence day for day,” Bradley said.

It also creates a “point multiplier” for adult-on-minor sex crimes. Because sentences are based on a point system, the multipliers will lead to longer prison sentences.

His bill also creates longer prison terms for those convicted of crimes like sexual battery on a minor by a person who has custody of the minor, and sexual battery on a victim 12 or older when the battery involves circumstances like the victim being “helpless to resist.”

In bill SB 528, filled by state Sen. Greg Evers, R-Milton, requires a sexual predator to register with the state things like vehicle information, online identifiers, palm prints, passports, and professional licenses, among others.

And bill, SB 524, filed by Hollywood Democrat Eleanor Sobel, increases training and review requirements for members of a team that reviews offenders as part of the involuntary commitment process.

There have been hearings in the House and Senate to gather input on how lawmakers should craft this year’s reforms. Both Gaetz and House Speaker Will Weatherford, R-Wesley Chapel, have made clear that reform bills are a top priority.

“We want to get these on Gov. Scott’s desk as quickly as we can,” Bradley said.